String Quartets / String Quartet Fragments Op. 41

Three Divertimenti Plus The Spring Dissonance And Prussian No.- Quartets-Divertimenti were a popular genre in the 18th century offering listeners a lighthearted 'diversion' at social functions. Mozart wrote these three pieces for string quartet in Salzburg in 1772. The three-movement Italian-style compositions require only wind parts to assume another form hence their common description as the 'Salzburg Symphonies.'This authoritative inexpensive edition of the ever-popular composer's works features three additional quartets: 'Spring ' 'Dissonance ' and 'Prussian No. 1' QuartetsDover Original.

Best Loved Stringquartets. A popular genre in the 18th century, divertimenti offered listeners a lighthearted diversion at social functions. Mozart wrote these three pieces for string quartet in Salzburg in 1772. The three-movement Italian-style compositions require only wind parts to assume another form, hence their common description as the Salzburg Symphonies. Students, teachers, and professional string players will prize this authoritative collection of three divertimenti plus three additional quartets by the ever-popular composer. This convenient single-volume version is the least expensive edition available of these works, and its sturdy binding allows pages to remain open on music stands, promising years of use and enjoyment.

Frank Bridge wrote these three light-hearted and fairly easy String Quartets for the English String Quartet of which he was a member to play at the Annual General Meeting of the Royal College of Music Union in 1904. Accessible for advanced school students they are published with the kind permission of the Frank Bridge Trust and transcribed from the original manuscript.

Quoting Saxton: My Fantazia for String Quartet was complete in December 1993 in response to a commission from the London International String Quartet Competition for a test piece for the 1994 competition. Funds were provided bythe John S Cohen Foundation.The title gives the clue to the nature of the music: the viol fantasia was the chosen form of composition for the greatest English composers of the mid-seventeenth century Lawes Jenkins Ferraboscoin particular. They inherited the techniques of vocal polyphony from Byrd and Gibbons and forged a new instrumental polyphonic style. The culmination of this genre was reached in the magnificent works of Henry Purcell around1680 and it was Purcell who adopted the spelling ‘Fantazia’.I have always loved this music and when asked to write a short piece for strings I decided to pay tribute to this under-rated tradition. Most fantazias consistedof short joined sections and I have expanded this to create and eight-minute piece in three larger sections the essence being contrapuntal interplay and equality of part-writing. (Any idea of stylistic reference would be absurdion the late twentieth century). The first section is a lyrical allegro moderato which leads into a sustained and intense slow movement; this in turn gives way to a final quick section of a dancing character a featurefrequently encountered in Purcell’s own consort pieces.